2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: An Introduction

And so, we arrive at the start of my trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.

(Cambodian Royal Palace - Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

If you had asked me a year prior to selecting this trip, I would have told you that these areas in particular and the region of Southeast Asia in general was never one that I had any strong urge to visit.  I had the basics of geography of course, a class in Communist Government Structure that likely including Vietnam, and at least one graduate class in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).  I also had the tail end of an American's knowledge of Vietnam and the Killing Fields of Cambodia, fueled by vague television pictures and the knowledge that at least one of my cousins had died there.

(Angkor Thom - Siam Rep,  Cambodia)

Yet somehow, I ended up in Cambodia and Vietnam.

(Angkor Wat - Siam Rep, Cambodia)

I believe that when The Ravishing Mrs. TB asked me if I was interested, I surprised her as much as myself in saying yes.  In a way, it was the perfect trip:  I really had no historical basis beyond a very hazy one and so no impressions either way about going.

(Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam)

There places I had heard of, of course:  Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat, Hanoi, The Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City.  I had seen various pictures over the years and perhaps a documentary or two.

Like most things, of course, pictures and documentaries do not do things justice.

(Mekong River - Vietnam)

It was different - probably the most different sort of tour I have done to date.  There is always a veneer of Western Civilization - it is hard to escape that anymore - but behind that veneer was a layer of reality that is sometimes hidden from places that are more used to tourism.  In some ways, these were not the picturesque villages of Europe or the carefully excavated cities of Rome and Greece.  Yes, there were elements of the picturesque there, but it was also the reality of societies in transition between the modern and the traditional.

(Imperial Citadel - Hue, Vietnam)

I know for past series I have usually given a run down of history before I have launched into tour itself.  That said, I do not know that this makes sense this time.  These, at least for me, were very different histories with players and movements and people groups that were unfamiliar to me and I suspect unfamiliar to many.  It perhaps makes the most sense to just holistically roll in the history as we go.

(Ha Long Bay, Vietnam)

Was it what we expected?  I do not know how to answer that questions, because I do not know what I expected.  I do know that it by far was one of the most different places I have visited with a very different history that does not lean much into or rely much on what I have studied and read on most of my life.

("Train Street" - Hanoi, Vietnam)

But scenery was beautiful, the food was good, and the people universally friendly.  If it was not what I expected, it was certainly memorable and exciting in its own right.

(Water Puppet Show - Hanoi, Vietnam)

Welcome, friends, to a slice of Southeast Asia.